EricS,
You are correct about the VSX-94 and the sleep state of RS-232.
Last years' SC-05 & SC-07 (not the SC-09 BTW) and all of the 2009 Elite models have the new RS-232 circuit that behaves the way it should.
There is still an anomaly with a power state request when the receivers are off; there is either no response or a partial response.
Your work-around looks good for the VSX-94. Another suggestion is to leave Zone 2 or 3 on all the time so that RS-232 will is always awake.
John
(still at Pioneer)